As soon as Qiao Zhen entered, she saw Tang Yue laughing hysterically and Lu Zheng standing next to her with a cold face.

Qiao Zhen didn't have time to care why Lu Zheng had a cold face. She took out her phone and showed Lu Zheng the message that her salary had been docked, speaking in a somewhat displeased tone.

“Lu Zheng, you can target me, but I bet you know better than I do that I need a lot of money. Are you cutting off my source of income to make me bow down?”

Lu Zheng said calmly, "I didn't do this."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhen sneered: "If you didn't do it, who did?"

Lu Zheng looked at Tang Yue beside him.

Tang Yue was taken aback for a moment, then put on an embarrassed attitude and said, "I'm sorry, Qiao Zhen, your work performance this month is relatively poor in your group, so I have slightly reduced your salary. As long as you continue to work hard this month, I will adjust your salary back."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhen reacted as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Ms. Tang, the reason my performance this month is low is because I attended many events, which meant I didn't have enough time to work. In addition, many of my orders are directly assigned to Mr. Lu. If you're judging my value solely based on performance, isn't that a bit subjective and arbitrary?"

Tang Yue listened to Qiao Zhen's explanation but didn't take it to heart at all, playing with her nails as she did so, and then said apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Qiao, this is company policy, and I'm just doing my job."

Seeing that Tang Yue looked harmless, Qiao Sen didn't want to waste any more time. He just gave Lu Zheng a look and left the office.

Tang Yue hadn't even realized what was going on and was still pointing at the photo, laughing happily, when she heard Lu Zheng say, "Are you done laughing? Get lost."

Hearing Lu Zheng's angry words, Tang Yue was stunned, seemingly not expecting him to be so unhappy.

"What do you mean? I was just joking, why did you tell me to get lost?"

Hearing Tang Yue's words, Lu Zheng's expression remained unpleasant: "I don't want to repeat myself a second time."

Seeing Lu Zheng's cold expression, Tang Yue snorted and immediately left.

"Raise Qiao Zhen's salary for me." After giving the order, Lu Zheng immediately hung up the phone.

Qiao Zhen returned to her workstation still fuming. To be honest, she had considered changing jobs, but she was well aware of the financial strength of the Lu Group and knew that no other company would offer such a generous salary.

With a sigh, Qiao Zhen began a new round of work.

Qiao Zhen didn't drink a drop of water until she got off work.

Feeling parched, she got up and went to the coffee shop to make herself a cup of coffee to perk herself up.

A cup of coffee was slowly made, and before Qiao Zhen could think much about it, she took a sip and realized that the taste was a little off.

Exhaustion overwhelmed her caution, and she slowly took another sip.

By the time Qiao Zhen realized there was something wrong with the coffee, it was too late; she immediately felt dizzy and disoriented.

With a sudden weakness in her leg muscles, she collapsed to the ground.

Before her vision finally disappeared, she saw a figure appear in front of him.

Is she... going to die?

*

When Qiao Zhen opened her eyes again, she was already lying in a hospital bed.

She looked around weakly and realized that she was lying in a VIP ward.

Before he could think any further, the door to the ward was pushed open, and Lu Zheng, looking anxious, checked on Qiao Zhen and leaned down to speak.

"You're finally awake. Are you alright? Is there anything seriously wrong?"

Hearing Lu Zheng's words, Qiao Zhen was stunned for a moment, then shook her head: "I'm fine."

His tone was undisguisedly distant.

Lu Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then immediately straightened up and said calmly, "You were poisoned by coffee. The specific cause is under investigation, and the police have been notified. We will give you a satisfactory answer."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhen's expression remained indifferent, and she responded with a barely perceptible murmur.

Where Qiao Zhen couldn't see, Lu Zheng sighed softly, wanting to say something more, but Qiao Zhen had already turned her back, not giving Lu Zheng any space to speak.

Lu Zheng had no choice but to leave.

Qiao Zhen picked up her phone from the bedside table and found that Gu Xijue had sent her a message.

“Zhenzhen, I’ve found a clue. Zhou Zheng accepted bribes when he was a doctor at a provincial hospital. He was caught, but somehow it was suppressed. However, he has since retired.”

Upon seeing this message, Qiao Zhen became somewhat agitated. She immediately typed and sent it back quickly: "Could you refine the evidence?"

Gu Xijue replied quickly: "Of course it's true, don't worry, I'll send it to you as soon as the evidence is ready."

"Okay, thank you." Qiao Zhen replied, and was about to hang up when another message came from the other end: "How are you doing at the hospital? Are you feeling unwell?"

His pupils contracted slightly as he tapped the needle, and his hands trembled slightly as he typed.

How did he know?

"How...how did you know I was in the hospital?"

Gu Xijue immediately replied, "Haha, nothing you do escapes my eyes."

Knowing that Gu Xijue was secretly monitoring her, Qiao Zhen pursed her lips.

Could this mean that Gu Xijue actually cares about her?

She dared not harbor any illusions about the matter and simply laughed it off.

Life in the hospital ward was a bit boring, and she spent all her time playing on her phone. Then, someone she never expected suddenly showed up.

"Miss Qiao, it's nice to see you again."

Qiao Zhen frowned unhappily at the unexpected guest before her.

Since the last incident, Shen Yan has locked herself in her home and hasn't dared to show her face for several days. This is the first time she has gone out.

"Miss Chen, we don't seem to know each other very well. May I ask what brings you here to see me today?"

Hearing this, Shen Yan still had a faint smile on her face.

"Don't be too anxious. I don't have anything else to say, I just wanted to tell you that I know who harmed you."

Qiao Zhen looked at Chen Yan and wondered why, although Lu Hang treated her badly, he still provided for her in terms of food, clothing and daily necessities.

Instead of asking who it was, he asked him a question in return.

How did you know about this?

Shen Yan covered her mouth and chuckled twice, her tone full of confidence: "If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place. Miss Qiao, although we have a history, things have come to this point, so I don't need to hide anything from you."

"That's true, but we're not related, so why are you helping me?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yan's expression changed drastically, becoming somewhat sinister.

"If you have to blame someone, blame the person who framed you. I don't want him to have an easy time either. After all, it's always better to have one more friend than one more enemy."

Qiao Zhen was still skeptical of Shen Yan's words.

This is different from her guilt towards Shen Yan.

She knew that Shen Yan didn't have good intentions towards him, so she didn't dare to believe her words easily.

Seeing Qiao Zhen's disbelieving look, Chen Yan was too lazy to waste words with her and said calmly, "I'll only say it once, believe it or not, the person who harmed you is..."

Halfway through their conversation, the door was suddenly flung open, drawing their attention.